Baseball glove and tethered ball



Oct. 20, 1964 S. LEWIS BASEBALL GLOVE AND TETHERED BALL Filed Sept. 5, 1962 INVENTOR SAMUEL LEWIS WWW United States Patent 3,153,537 BASEBALL GLOVE AND TETHERED BALL Samuel Lewis, 670 Riverside Drive, White Plains, N.Y. Filed Sept. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 221,546 7 Claims. (Cl. 273-26) This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to a toy for playing a ball game.

Baseball is perhaps the most popular game among children. At least two players are needed for performing any aspect of the game in a conventional manner. One player throws a ball, and the other player either catches the flying ball or attempts to strike it with a bat. Active baseball playing in any of its aspects has heretofore not been available to a single player.

The object of this invention is to provide a toy which permits a player to throw a ball in the manner customary in baseball, and to catch it himself.

The exact nature of this invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will be readily apparent from consideration of the following specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a first phase of a game played with the toy of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a second phase of the game; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of this invention on a scale greater than that of FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring initially to FIG. 3, there is seen a leather glove 1 of a type commonly worn by baseball players. It has a thumb portion 2, and four other finger portions 3 which are pivotally movable relative to the thumb portion, and are held together by heavy leather stitching 4 so that the glove, in effect, constitutes a mitten. Similar leather stitching reinforces the wrist portion 5 of the glove.

A string 6 is attached to the palm portion 7 of the glove 1. The end of the string passes through the palm portion 7 and is fastened to the inside of the glove 1 in a conventional manner not requiring further explanation. The other end portion of the string 7 is attached in a similar manner to a rubber ball 8 the surface of which is molded to show imitation stitching. The string is at least partly of yieldably resilient material so that it may stretch lengthwise. Its length in the normal relaxed condition is chosen to be not substantially less than eight times the length of the glove as measured from the wrist portion to the tip of the longest finger portion 3.

The manner of using the toy shown in FIG. 3 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In FIG. 1, a player 10 carries the glove 1 on his right hand, and holds the ball 8 in his left hand ready for throwing. When the ball is thrown, it travels freely away from the player ll until the string 6 is tensioned. The kinetic energy of the ball is then stored in the resilient string 6 while the same is being tensioned. The resilient nature of the string prevents the sudden application of force to the glove 1. Tension is transmitted to the palm portion 7 in a gradual manner not unpleasant to the player.

When the energy of the ball is spent, as shown in FIG. 2, it is accelerated backward toward the player in the direction of the arrow by the resilient contraction of the string 6, and may be caught in the glove covered right hand.

The length of the string must be sufiicient to permit free swinging movement of the throwing arm. The length of 3,153,537 Patented Oct. 20, 1964 the string also determines to a large extent the time elapsed between throwing and catching. In order to make the game attractive, this time must not be too long. A quick return of the ball requires fast reflexes on the part of the player, and materially contributes to the pleasure derived from this toy.

The length of string should thus not be substantially less than the body height of the player which is normally about eight times the length of the hand measured between the wrist and the longest finger tip, and approximately equal to the maximum distance to which the hands of a player can be moved apart. The string length also should not materially exceed twelve times the length of the players hand so as not unduly to delay return of the thrown ball. For the purpose of this approximate calculation, the length of the glove 1 measured across the palm portion 7 from the wrist portion 5 toward the most distant finger portion 3 does not difier substantially from the hand length, and the corresponding dimension of the glove 1 is substituted in the above-described numerical relationships for the length of the players hand without introducing an excessive error.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention, and that numerous modifications or alterations may be made therein without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A toy comprising, in combination:

(a) glove means including a palm portion and a plurality of finger portions secured to said palm portion for pivotal movement relative thereto;

(b) a ball; and

(0) string means having two end portions spaced apart along said string means a distance substantially greater than the greatest dimension of said glove means, said end portions being respectively secured to said glove means and said ball.

2. A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said string means is of yieldably resilient material.

3. A toy as set forth in claim 2, wherein said glove means has a wrist portion, and the spacing of said end portions in the relaxed condition of said string means portion is not substantially less than eight times the maximum dimension of said glove means measured in a direction from said wrist portion toward a finger portion.

4. A toy as set forth in claim 3, wherein the spacing of said end portions is not substantially greater than twelve times said maximum dimension.

5. A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein said ball and at least a portion of said string means are of yieldably resilient material.

6. A toy as set forth in claim 1, one of said end portions of said string means being secured to said palm portion.

7. A toy comprising, in combination:

(a) glove means having a wrist portion, a plurality of finger portions, and a palm portion intermediate said wrist and finger portions, said finger portions being each pivotally attached to said palm portion for movement toward and away from each other;

(b) a ball of yieldably resilient material; and

(0) string means having two end portions adapted to be spaced apart along said string means a distance not substantially less than eight times the maximum dimension of said glove means measured across said palm portion from said wrist portion toward one of said finger portions, said end portions being respectively secured to said palm portion and to said ball, at least a portion of said string means being of yieldably resilient material.

4 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner. 

1. A TOY COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: (A) GLOVE MEANS INCLUDING A PALM PORTION AND A PLURALITY OF FINGER PORTIONS SECURED TO SAID PALM PORTION FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO; (B) A BALL; AND (C) STRING MEANS HAVING TWO END PORTIONS SPACED APART ALONG SAID STRING MEANS A DISTANCE SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN THE GREATEST DIMENSION OF SAID GLOVE MEANS, SAID END PORTIONS BEING RESPECTIVELY SECURED TO SAID GLOVE MEANS AND SAID BALL. 